Convertible locking relay



April 1960 F. G. NICOLAUS 2,932,705

CONVERTIBLE LOCKING RELAY Filed Sept. 9, 1958 75X [5x 171 FIG. 5 7 l4 Era ma Y United States Patent "ice CONVERTIBLE LOCKING RELAY Frank G. Nicolaus, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Lion lylanufacturing Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application September 9, 1958, Serial No. 759,997

6 Claims. (Cl. 200-87) This invention pertains to electromagnetic relays and has as its principal object the provision of an improved switch actuator operated in a substantially linear path by a non-linearly moving armature.

More particularly stated, the invention relates to the type of relay having a rockable armature and stacktype blade switches above the armature such that rocking movement of the latter moves an insulated blade actuator to fiex the contact blades in switching action.

According to conventional constructions the blade actuating panel or wafer is riveted or otherwise rigidly attached to the armature, and since the displacement of the rocking aramture follows an arcuate path, the conventional blade actuator also necessarily follows an arcuate path. This is objectionable for the reason that when a large pile-up of switches is used, the blades farthest from the armature do not receive the same kind of operating forces as the nearer blades.

Most of the prior types of blade actuating panel or wafer were riveted to the armature or attached by various arrangements of screws and lugs. According to the present disclosures the actuator floats without fixed attachment to the blades or the armature, affording an improved blade-operating efliciency as well as substantial economies in manufacture.

The new linear actuator has an important additional feature in that it is provided with integral appendage means for positively determining its stroke; and the appendage means is contrived to cooperate optionally with a locking device and makes possible a convertible relay which may be used as an ordinary non-locking type relay, or as a locking relay for electromagnetic or manual release.

A further object is the provision of a very simple means for capturing the tail of the armature to hold the latter seated on its fulcrum.

Additional aspects of novelty and utility relate to details of the construction and operation of the embodiment described hereinafter in view of the annexed drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the basic relay unit;

' Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan detail of the new actuator;

Fig. 2-A is a fragmentary side view of a modified form of the relay base plate;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the relay with locking coil added and the parts shown in non-operated condition;

Fig. 4is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts in operated condition;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the actuator plate with fragmentary portions of the base frame shown in section, as seen in a direction opposite from that of Fig. 5.

The relay unit shown in Fig. 1 comprises a metal base plate 10 having a mounting flange 11 struck down along one edge and an upstanding armature post 12 struck up at one end with retaining cars 13 at the outer corners of this post to fit into notches 14 in a rocking arma- 2,932,705 Patented Apr. 12, 1960 ture 15 interfitting with said ears in a commonly used construction rendering the armature rockable relative to the pole of an electromagnet 16 mounted therebelow, a novel arrangement of a traction spring 17 being utilized, not only for the purpose of raising the armature 15 to its normal position, as in prior relay construction, but for the very important additional purpose of capturing or confining the armature in its seat, by reason of the provision of a special integral lug 13X on the frame stamping at a position in close juxtaposition with the tail lug 15X on the armature, and then casting the end loop 17X of the traction spring around both lugs by reason of which the armature cannot be unseated from the fulcrum notches 14. This novelty eliminates special stop fingers, extensions and bent lugs resorted to heretofore for such purposes and reduces assembly time and stop lug adjustments (e.g. with magnet 30, Fig. 4).

The necessary contact means is provided by a stack switch 25 mounted on the base plate with its long flexible switch blades 26, 27 projecting toward the magnet at a level considerably below that of the armature, a longer one of the contact blades 26 projecting into engagement with an actuator member 18 adapted to be moved downwardly by the armature to close circuit with contact 27.

In prior constructions the actuator plates analogous to 18 have been rigidly attached, as by riveting and staking, to the armature, and accordingly, the movements thereof were arcuate. Moreover, in most prior constructions. the switch stacks are mounted at a level above the armature and the rigidly attached actuator plates likewise projected upwardly away from the plane of the armature, the importance of which lies in the fact that as the number of contact blades in the pile-up grows, the arcuate movements become magnified upwardly.

The new actuator means, as particularly portrayed in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, affords a linear motion with economies in over-all size, as well as manufacturing and operating details as will now appear.

Referring to Fig. 2, the actuator 18 is preferably a thin plate of insulating material such as Bakelite or Formica, having near one (top) margin a pair of edge wise notches 18X and at the opposite or bottom thereof a hook-like lateral finger 19. In the body of the actuator plate are a plurality of parallel blade slots,20 into which various stack switch blades, such as 26, are projected, as in Fig. l.

The actuator plate 18 is loosely swung from the armature by interfit of a pair of upstanding endwise tabs or ears 15X engaged in the notches 18X of the actuator (Figs. 1 and 6).

At its foot the actuator plate engages in a guide notch 10X formed in the base plate, finger 19 of the actuator plate being formed by cutting a deep and wide notch 19A sidewise into the plate, this notch being aligned with the notch 10X in the base plate so that the actuator finger 19 projects laterally a substantial distance beneath the base plate 10, as portrayed in Fig. 6, and will abut the underside of the base plate as a limiting stop when the armature is raised. The width of the notch 19A is of importance in conjunction with the lock-up features to be described hereafter.

It will now be apparent from Fig. 1 that as the armature 15 rocks downwardly, actuator 18 moves downwardly in a linear path owing to the effect of the lower guide notch 10X and the loose pivoted interfit of the upper notches 18X in the actuator with the endwise ear formations 15Y on the armature, the actuator plate being freely pendant from the armature for this purpose.

It will also be apparent from Fig. 1 that should additional contact blade sets be added to the stack switches, the pile-up may be extended upwardly close to the top of tends to be linear even with a maximum complement of contact blades. i

The basic relay unit is readily convertible to the looking type by addition of a locking coil 30 (Pig. 3) having a rocking armature 31 provided at its end with an upwardly offset locking tab 32 positioned to stand at one side of the finger 19 on the actuator when the latter is elevated with thearmature 15 in normal position, as in Fig. 3.

When the relay armature 15 is attracted by its coil 116 to shift the actuator toward the left in Fig. -4,-the locking tab 31 on the locking armature will pass behind the finger 19 owing to action of the locking armature spring .33, and the actuator (and hence armature 15) will thereby be blocked against return to normal position, whereby the switch blades will be locked in operated condition until such time as the release coil 39 is energized to attract armature 3i and disengage the locking tab 32' from behind actuator finger 19 to free the latter for returnto normal by action'of spring 17.

The construction illustrated is commercially a modestly.- .priced instrument and does not fall into the class of precision of semi-precision instruments, andthe operating parameters and tolerances in both the magnetic circuit and mechanical structure are quite generous, so that the linearity achieved in the cheaper constructions, while still quite marked, is nevertheless not absolutely straight owing to permitted looseness in the armature-actuator interen gagement at 15Y18X, and the lit at the guide notch 19X in the base.

In this connection it may be observed that the switch blades 26 themselves tend to flex in an arcuate pattern so that the actuator is influenced to deviate from strict linearity by interaction with these blades, such influence being negligible as a practical matter where the contact spacing is kept small, eg. at or below about one-sixteenth inch. a

Should a greater degree of linearity be desired, the interfit at ZltlX, lY-I8X can be made closer, and at slight added expense additional actuator-guiding means may be provided for example in the form of guiding lugs IltlZ (Fig. 2A) upset along opposite sides of the margins of base notch X to further confine the actuator panel movements to a more linear path.

I claim: 1 1. in a relay having a rockable armature and blademeans in linear alignment with said tong and slot connection and the plane of said panel guidingly receiving a portion of said panel for linear movement responsive to rocking motion of the armature, said panel having a blade-receiving slot formation therein; and blade switch means mounted on said base including actuatable contact blade means extending into a said slot formation for actuation by linear displacement of the panel as aforesaid.

3. The relay construction of claim 2 further characterized in that said panel hasan integral hook formation in which a portion of said base'is freely received, said hook formation being of a width to limit the linear displacements of the panel in at least one direction.

4. Relay means according to claim 3 further character,- ized by the provision ofa second or latching electromagnet on said base with armature means movable thereby and a latching means movable therebetween and springurged to engage behind said hook formation'in one position thereof to latch the panel in a corresponding position and to be disengaged from latching relation with said I hook formation responsive to energization'of said second type contacts movable thereby, a blade actually loosely,

pivotally interconnected at one point to said armature and guided at another point by means fixed in position relative to said armature whereby the actuator is constrained to move in a substantially linear path responsiveto rocking movement of the armature, and means on the actuator for operativcly engaging certain contact blades.

' 2. in a relay of the type having an electromagnet with a rockable armature and blade switch means to be actuated thereby, a blade actuator in the'form of a flat panel of insulating material having near an upper edge a loose tongue and slot connection with a part of the armature remote from its rocking axis; a base member on which said electromagnet is mounted, said base having slot or latching electromagnet. V

5. In a relay having a pole frame and an armature rockably seated on an arm of said frame, improvements comprising, namely: means for capturing the armature on its rocking seat comprising the provision of a lug on said frame and in close juxtaposition to a tail lug on the rocking end of said armature, extending beyond the rocking axis to overlie said frame lug, and a traction spring anchored at one end on said frame below said lugs, and

having a loop at its opposite end cast over both said lugs to rock the armature into a normal position and also to hold the same in its rocking seat.

6. In a relay of the type having a rocking armature with a frame means rockably supporting the same and means includingan electromagnet forrocking the arm ture, together with blade-switch means carried above the armature for actuation by a slotted actuator plate engaging at least some of'the switch blades and the armature, improvements in the actuator plate and mounting thereof comprising, namely: a flat actuating plate having near one side margin a loose rockable interconnection with the armature, and being near an opposite side margin freely slidablein a guide slot in said frame for substantially linear back and forth action responsive to rocking of said armature; said plate having slot means engaging as aforesaid With at least some of said switch blades for switching actuation of the same in movement of the actuator plate as aforesaid; and means for limiting-the back and forth motion of the actuator plate. as aforesaid and comprising a side-slot opening into a third side margin of the actuator plate in a direction approximately transverse to a line between said first-mentioned two side mar.- gins; said frame having a part projecting freely into said side slot for engagement of opposite sides of the latter in opposite blade-actuating displacements of the actuator to limit the travel of the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent Wood Nov. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,932,705 April 12, 1960 Frank G. Nicolacs It is hereby certified that'error appears in theprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

"of semi-precision" read or Column 3, line 28, for

for "actually" read actuator semi-precision. line 52,

Signed and sealed this 8th day of November 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL AXLINE ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Oflicer Commissioner of Patents Patent No. 2,932,705 April 12 1960 Frank 6., Nicolaas nted specification It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the-pri Letters of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Patent should read as corrected below. I

.Column 3, line 28, semi-precision line 52,

Signed and sealed this 8th day of November (SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AKLINE Attesting Oflicer ROBERT C. WATSON Commissioner of Patents 

